“But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.” ~ Genesis 19:26
Men love fall. Often, they absolutely cannot wait to turn the calendar over to October and November.
This isn’t because of Starbuck pumpkin promotions, Thanksgiving, or football.
Well, come to think of it. That could be part of it.
No, it is time to hunt. It is time to throw on camouflage jump suits, grab the firearm of choice, and go enjoy the primal instinct of harvesting food for the family.
It is a time of great excitement for many men but also great disappointment.
I can share a story. Just recently, I sat in a homemade blind for hours till I heard some deer quitely walking up to graze. I first saw the doe, which I spared. I knew the buck I was looking for had to be near.
He came in gruffly about 10 minutes later. And he would not come into my field of view. So I decided I would force his hand.
I contorted my body, twisted around, poorly lined him up, and- I missed.
He was gone. He never came back. It was a wasted opportunity.
Two, actually.
I could have cut my losses, harvested a doe, and had some good grub. Or, I could have just waited, possibly used a call to draw him in, and not blow my cover.
Regardless, an opportunity was missed.
Missed opportunities such as the one I described make us ask ourselves questions such, “Why even bother?”
We look to that which was missed, and it paralyzes our forward motion in life and ministry. But this is not the life God intended for His people. A rather dramatic example of this truth is the story of Lot’s wife. She was instructed to leave her old life behind in Sodom and never look back as God destroyed it, yet turned around to dwell once more on what was behind instead of what was forward.
She turned into a pillar of salt.
Although, you may be thinking, well, that doesn’t happen to me, think again. Looking back to your old life of sin or prideful religious fervor and dwelling on it will leave you paralyzed and salty as well.
Be like Paul, who looked not at the things behind or even at eye level, but those things ahead. Press on to the upward calling of Christ and live each day anew (Phillipians 3:14)!
Missed opportunities are missed opportunities. It is the past. It pails in comparison to the great future of fulfilled promises God has in store for you (1 Corinthians 2:9).